Vinyl Skipping? Don't panic, here are a few tips!

If you notice your vinyl is skipping, there are a few different things that could be going wrong. The issue could be your individual records or it could be coming from your record player. Here are some tips for stopping those annoying skips!

DIRT AND DUST

If dirt or dust makes its way into the grooves of your vinyl record, skipping can occur. Luckily, this can usually be fixed with gentle cleaning and TLC. We recommend following these steps:

Watch your record carefully as it plays and take note of the exact places where it skips.

If the skipping persists, carefully rinse the record with distilled water. Make you sure you don’t get the label wet.

Once the record is fully dry, you should be all set! Try to play the record again, if it is still skipping the problem may be elsewhere.

There are also a ton of products on the market that can be helpful for cleaning your vinyl records.

STYLUS

If a few attempts at cleaning your vinyl have failed, take a look at the stylus on your record player. A worn-down stylus can cause your records to skip, so you may need to buy a replacement. These are typically easy to find and chances are the company that makes your record player sells replacements.

STILL NO LUCK?

The arm of your turntable may be out of balance. If your turntable has adjustable knobs, you can take a shot at carefully readjusting. If this doesn’t work, it may be best to have a professional take a look at your turntable. They should be able to adjust the tone arm so it is balanced again. This can save you from having to totally replace the record player.

SCRATCHES

If there are very visible scratches on the actual record, it is possible that it is beyond repair. While unfortunate, this is something that does happen and is just a part of the vinyl life. If you determine that there is no saving this record, you can always try to create something new with it. Check out our Pinterest board for some ideas for recycling old vinyl!